A week from today, at exactly 8pm, Pope Benedict XVI will no longer be pope. We will have some unique seven days in history starting from today. This is the first time in a long time people can say that the Pope has one more week to be pope. Some of the highlights of these coming seven days will be Pope Benedict's last Angelus on Sunday, the Pope's emanation of a document that will modify the rules of the conclave in order to allow this meeting to start sooner, and his last public Wednesday Audience which will most likely be the official moment for the Pope to say good bye. On Thursday, some time in the afternoon, the Pope will leave the Vatican in a helicopter and I will try to be in St. Peter's Square for that historic instant.
With one week left on his papacy, I would like to repeat how revolutionary and critical is this choice of the Pope. This decision to leave is one of the strongest signs in the last centuries of real faithfulness to the papal ministry as visible shepherd of the Church. We're seeing a Pope that is behaving as true pastor, as an authentic servant, and as a loyal bishop willing to do whatever it takes to bring the members of the Church closer to God and seeking at any cost the spiritual safety of the Mystical Body of Christ. Many theology experts are reasonably predicting that with this decision the papacy is securely going back to be a service to the people of God and is leaving behind all the unnecessary worldly affairs that have nothing to do with being a good shepherd in the image of our eternal Good Shepherd. Viva il papa!
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